The covers of books in several languages of India, including English, feature on the 21-strong longlist of The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023, which honours the work of artists and designers in designing book covers.

Here is the longlist of 21 books:

  • Birdwatching, Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company, cover design by Bena Sareen
  • The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder, DC Books, cover design by Leeza John
  • Shakti: An Exploration of the Divine Feminine, Nilima Chitgopekar, Dorling Kindersley India, cover design by Priyanka Thakur
  • Boys Don’t Cry, Meghna Pant, Ebury Publishing, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah
  • The Lesbian Cow and Other Stories, Indu Menon, translated from the Malayalam by Nandakumar K, Eka, cover design by Bhavya/Saurabh Garge
  • The Illuminated, Anindita Ghose, FourthEstate, cover design by Bonita Vaz-Shimray
  • Gods, Giants and Geography of India, Nalini Ramachandran, Hachette India Children’s Books, cover design by Sharanya Kunnath
  • Onam in a Nightie: Stories from a Kerala Quarantine, Anjana Menon, HarperCollins, cover design by Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal
  • Who’s Not Afraid of Z? Not Me!, Lubaina Bandukwala, HarperCollins Children’s Books, cover design by Allen Shaw
  • Onyoder Jiban, Neel Mukherjee, translated from the English into Bengali by Suchismita Ghosh, Jadavpur University Press, cover design by Trinankur Banerjee
  • Pebble Monkey, Manindra Gupta, translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha, Jadavpur University Press, cover design by Paramita Brahmachari
  • Kankabati Kalpabigyan Lekheni, edited by Yashodhora Raychaudhuri, Ankita and Dip Ghosh, Kalpabiswa Publications, cover design by Ujjwal Ghosh
  • Metronama: Scenes from the Delhi Metro, Rashmi Sadana, Roli Books, cover design by Shikhar Gaur
  • India: A Story Through 100 Objects, Vidya Dehejia, Roli Books, cover design by Sneha Pamneja
  • Motherland: Pushpamala N’s Woman and Nation, Monica Juneja and Sumathi Ramaswamy, Lustre, cover design by Advaita Vats
  • Growing up Jewish: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin, Ori Z Soltes, Niyogi Books, cover design by Misha Oberoi
  • How the Earth Got its Beauty, Sudha Murty, Puffin, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah and Devangana Dash and cover illustration by Priyanka Pachpande
  • Tirahe Par Teen, Rajni Gupt, Rajpal & Sons, cover design by Archana Jain
  • A Paradox of Dreams, Harshali Singh, Readomania Publishing, cover design by Sourish Mitra
  • Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses, Pranay Lal, Viking, cover design by Ahlawat Gunjan
  • The Muslim Vanishes, Saeed Naqvi, Vintage, cover design by Antra

This year’s jury comprises Priti Paul (Director Apeejay Surrendra Group) Shobhaa De (author), Kunal Basu, Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament and author), and Alka Pande (academician). Chief of Jury, Alka Pande said that the longlist “celebrates originality, creativity and reflects reality.” The shortlist for the award will be unveiled at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival in January 2023 and the winner will be announced in Delhi a few weeks later.

Here are the covers.

Birdwatching, cover design by Bena Sareen

The Memory Police, cover design by Leeza John

Shakti: An Exploration of the Divine Feminine, cover design by Priyanka Thakur

Boys Don’t Cry, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah

The Lesbian Cow and Other Stories, cover design by Bhavya/Saurabh Garge

The Illuminated, cover design by Bonita Vaz-Shimray

Gods, Giants and Geography of India, cover design by Sharanya Kunnath

Onam in a Nightie: Stories from a Kerala Quarantine, cover design by Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal

Who’s Not Afraid of Z? Not Me!, cover design by Allen Shaw

Onyoder Jiban, cover design by Trinankur Banerjee

Pebble Monkey, cover design by Paramita Brahmachari

Kankabati Kalpabigyan Lekheni, cover design by Ujjwal Ghosh

Metronama: Scenes from the Delhi Metro, cover design by Shikhar Gaur

India: A Story Through 100 Objects, cover design by Sneha Pamneja

Motherland: Pushpamala N’s Woman and Nation, cover design by Advaita Vats

Growing up Jewish: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin, cover design by Misha Oberoi

How the Earth Got its Beauty, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah and Devangana Dash and cover illustration by Priyanka Pachpande

Tirahe Par Teen, cover design by Archana Jain

A Paradox of Dreams, cover design by Sourish Mitra

Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses, cover design by Ahlawat Gunjan

The Muslim Vanishes, cover design by Antra